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Common Core math frustrates Louisiana families: New York Times

Common Core Rally

Common Core continues to be controversial. Earlier this month, about 40 people gathered to rally against the national standards at the Louisiana State Capitol.
(Photo by Julia O'Donoghue, NOLA.com/Times-Picayune)

Louisiana features prominently in a New York Times article published Sunday that questions whether math under Common Core standards is too difficult, even for parents.

The article begins with an interview with the Nelams family, who live in the Greenwell Springs area of East Baton Rouge Parish. They plan to homeschool their four children next school year because they say they find the Common Core math assignments are frustrating the students. (The article doesn't say which district the family is in, but it would presumably be the Central Community School System).

The newspaper also interviewed a gifted student in Slidell and her mother, who said for her academic level, the lessons don't progress quickly enough.

The 9-year-old girl said she was tired of "having to draw all those little tiny dots."

Common Core math is intended to teach more conceptual thinking, so students understand and remember the math, rather than just memorizing formulas. In a worksheet photographed by the New York Times for the story, for example, it says there are six cars in a parking lot and asks students how many wheels there would be. Instead of just multiplying 6 times 4, students draw six "groups" of four wheels each.

Do you have school-age children who are using a math curriculum that follows the Common Core standards? What do you think of it? Tell us in the comments below.